The History and Future of Bioethics

A Sociological View

John H. Evans

An unorthodox history of the profession of bioethics and bioethical debate itself

The most complete explanation available of the history of bioethics, and especially on the divorce between religion and bioethics

A controversial proposal for restructuring bioethical debate in order to solve its problems, which includes the claim that self-identified bioethicists no longer participate in particular debates in order to strengthen their position elsewhere

Proposes that government bioethics commissions fundamentally restructure their activities to make their claims more appropriate for a representative democracy

The History and Future of Bioethics

A Sociological View

John H. Evans

Description

It seems like every day society faces a new ethical challenge raised by a scientific innovation. Human genetic engineering, stem cell research, face transplantation, synthetic biology - all were science fiction only a few decades ago, but now are all reality. How do we as a society decide whether these technologies are ethical? For decades professional bioethicists have served as mediators between a busy public and its decision-makers, helping people understand their own ethical concerns, framing arguments, discrediting illogical claims, and supporting promising ones. These bioethicists play an instrumental role in guiding governments' ethical policy decisions, consulting for hospitals faced with vital decisions, and advising institutions that conduct research on humans.Although the bioethics profession has functioned effectively for many years, it is now in crisis. Policy-makers are less inclined to take the advice of bioethics professionals, with many observers saying that bioethics debates have simply become partisan politics with dueling democratic and republican bioethicists. While this crisis is contained to the task of recommending ethical policy to the government, there is risk that it will spread to the other tasks conducted by bioethicists.To understand how this crisis came about and to arrive at a solution, John H. Evans closely examines the history of the bioethics profession. Bioethics debates were originally dominated by theologians, but came to be dominated by the emerging bioethics profession due to the subtle and slow involvement of the government as the primary consumer of bioethical arguments. After the 1980s, however, the views of the government changed, making bioethical arguments less legitimate. Exploring the sociological processes that lead to the evolution of bioethics to where it is today, Evans proposes a radical solution to the crisis. Bioethicists must give up its inessential functions, change the way they make ethical arguments, and make conscious and explicit steps toward re-establishing the profession's legitimacy as a mediator between the public and government decision-makers.

The History and Future of Bioethics

A Sociological View

John H. Evans

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction PART 1: THE HISTORY OF BIOETHICAL DEBATE AND THE BIOETHICS PROFESSIONChapter 1: The Emergence of Bioethical Debate and the Jurisdictional Struggle Between Science and Theology Chapter 2: The Theological Retreat, and the Emergence of the Bioethics Profession PART II: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE JURISDICTIONAL CRISISChapter 3: The Rise of The Social Movement Activists PART III: TOWARD A NEW ERA OF BIOETHICAL DEBATEChapter 4: Task Clarification, Saying the Argument for Jurisdiction Chapter 5: A Modified Method for the Bioethics Profession Chapter 6: Conclusion Works Cited